NKP Salve Challenger Trophy

NKP Salve Challenger Trophy 2008-09 at Cuttack

IND Blue v IND Red: India Blue lift NKP Salve Trophy

Oct 26, 2008

India Blue put up an emphatic performance to register a crushing eight-wicket victory over India Red to lift the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy at Cuttack on Sunday.
India Red were bundled off for 151 before the Blues crossed the target in just 25.4 overs. Ajinkya Rahane and Robin Uthappa gave a solid start to the Blues with a 93-run stand, dashing Reds' hopes of a comeback at Barabati Stadium.
Reds' decision to bat first backfired as they lost wickets at regular intervals before being bowled out in 43 overs. Ashok Dinda and Siddharth Trivedi struck early blows to leave Red reeling at 72 for 6. Captain Subramanian Badrinath (56) and Praveen Kumar (35) saved the blushes with a 66-run stand.
Ashok Dinda (2-23), Irfan Pathan (2-30) and Siddhrath Trivedi (3-23) struck for Blues to scuffle any chance of Red's fight back.
Opener Parthiv Patel was trapped leg before by Dinda in the second over. Rohit Sharma, whose century against India Green helped Red to the final, edged a drive to Virat Kohli at second slip.
Badrinath and Murali Vijay (30) played with caution as the first ten overs brought just 25. Vijay got out trying to step up the run-rate. From there in, it was a middle-order collapse before Parveen and Badrinath gave some respectability to the score.

India Green succumbed to a 19-run defeat against India Blue as they were all out for 199, with an over to spare in the Challenger Series for the NKP Salve Trophy at Barabati Stadium.
Green, thus, squandered their chances to make it to the final. India Blue will take on India Red in the final on Sunday.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s valiant 65 was not enough for Green as they were chasing a target of 219 from 45 overs.
Ravichandran Ashwin picked up 3/46 in nine overs for the Blue. Green captain Mohammed Kaif scored a pain-staking seven off 32 balls.
Earlier, Robin Uthappa rode his luck to make 76 as India Blue were dismissed for 218 in 44.2 overs.
Following overnight rains, the match, crucial for Green’s aspiration for tomorrow’s summit clash, started an hour late with the umpires deciding to make it a 45 over-a-side affair.
Under overcast conditions and intermittent drizzle, Blues made a slow start after they were put in to bat.

IND Red v IND Green: Rohit stars in India Red victory

Oct 24, 2008

Rohit Sharma stroked an emphatic unbeaten century to guide India Red to a five wicket win over India Green in the N.K.P. Salve Challenger Trophy..
Rohit’s strokeful 117 saw India Red cross the 261 run target with one over to spare at the Barabatti Stadium. The Mumbai batsman was well supported by Murali Vijay (45) and Abhishek Nayar (34).
India Red, who lost their first match against India Blue, thus kept themselves in the hunt for a place in the final Sunday.
India Green would take on India Blue Saturday to decide the finalists.
Electing to bat, India Green, led by Mohammad Kaif, were off to a blazing start through Naman Ojha (96) and Shikhar Dhwan (45). A collapase at the end though dashed their hopes of a bigger target.
Ojha and Dhawan put on 102 runs in 19 overs, laying the foundation of a formidable score.
After Dhawan’s exit, Ojha and Suresh Raina (58) stitched together 95 runs and it seemed that India Green would cross the 300 mark. But thereafter their batsmen lost the plot as Piyush Chawla (3/50) and Parveen Kumar (2/51) rocked their middle order. India Green lost their last eight wickets in nine overs.
Chawla triggered a collapse when he removed both the set batsmen - Ojha and Raina - in one over. The lower order then surrendered, trying to step up the run rate in the final overs.
The India Red batting revolved around Rohit, who put on 75 runs with Vijay, and then a 50 run stand with skipper Subramaniam Badrinath (27) after the fall of opener Faiz Fazal.
But India Green came back into the match with the scalps of Badrinath and Manoj Tiwari. India Red were 171/4 in 39 over at one stage and the equation was a run-a-ball, but Rohit and Nayar saw the team through the difficult situtation with a 86 run partnership.
Rohit hit some exquisite stroke in his 120 ball innings, inclusive of 13 boundaries and two sixes.

IND Red v IND Blue: Uthappa shines in India Blue win

Oct 23, 2008

Robin Uthappa scored a fluent 94 to steer defending champions India Blue to a 49-run win over India Red in the opening match of the NKP Salve Trophy Challenger Series at Barabati Stadium.
Chasing a target of 236, India Red failed to capitalise on M Vijay's defiant 89 to be dismissed for 186 in 45.3 overs.
Tamilnadu opener Vijay waged a courageous fight at one end, while wickets fell one after another at the other. Vijay put on 78 runs for the fifth wicket with Manoj Tiwari (45) before being caught at long-on of the bowling of R Ashwin.
India Red's batting order crumbled after the dismissal of M Vijay who, for a brief time was on the verge of turning the game around for them.
Off-spinner Ashwin emerged as the most successful bowler for India Blue, bagging three wickets for 27 runs.
India Red will meet India Green in the next match tomorrow.
Earlier, India Blue won the toss and made 239 for nine in the stipulated 50 overs.
The star-studded India Blue failed to live up to their reputation as captain Yuvraj Singh (6), Virat Kholi (18) and wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik (0) got out cheaply.
However, in the later stages of the innings a cameo knock of 43 runs of 44 balls by Irfan Pathan helped them to reach a respectable total.
Showing good footwork and timing, Uthappa hit nine fours and a six in his 106-ball knock. In association with Ajinkya Rahane (28), Uthappa gave India Blue a fine start by garnering 87 runs for the fisrt wicket. That also proved to be the best partnership of the innings.
After that wickets fell at regular intervals as India Red fought back with tight bowling and enthusiastic fielding.
For India Red new ball bowlers Pravin Kumar and Laxmipathy Balaji and off-spinner Mohnish Parmar claimed two wickets each.

Blue meets Red in Challenger Series opener

Oct 22, 2008

Defending champions India Blue will meet India Red in the opening match of the Challenger Series for NKP Salve Trophy at the Barabati Stadium at Cuttack.
With the senior stars on their way out and the six-match ODI series against England round the corner, the Challenger Series has assumed importance.
The four-match series, involving three teams (India Green is the third side), will be an ideal opportunity for discards and hopefuls to perform well and stake claims for inclusion in the National side.
''The day-night Challenger Series will also be a platform to prepare well for the home series against England,'' said Dav Whatmore, in-charge of defending champions India Blue and the Director of Operations of the National Cricket Academy.
India Blue will be favourites to retain the trophy. The presence of larger number of star players including skipper Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthapa, Irfan Pathan, Dinesh Karthik and Virat Kohli gives them a distinct edge over the other two sides in the fray.
Yuvraj himself admitted that he was eyeing for a double hundred in the tournament. ''My form has not been that good in recent times.
Therefore, I am aiming to score a double hundred and bounce back into form,'' said the dashing left-hander after a three-hour-long practice session earlier in the day.
Led by S Badrinath, India Red bank on batsmen Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwai, stumper Parthiv Patel, seamers Pravin Kumar, L Balaji and leggie Piyush Chawla to win matches here.
India Red and India Green also sweated it out under lights for nearly three hours. However, none of the two sides could give any idea about the their composition for the opening match. ''Players came together only yesterday evening. We had no time to do so,'' explained Whatmore.
But after seeing the new track at Barabati, Yuvraj said it would offer good bounce. He and Whatmore were unanimous in their opinion that the opening tie will be high-scoring contest.